Union offense finding its feet

The Union’s Conor Casey , second from left, celebrates his first half goal with his teammates against the New England Revolution during the Open Cup quarterfinal at PPL Park in Chester, Pa., on Tuesday, July 8, 2014. ( AP Photo / The Philadelphia Daily News, Yong Kim )

CHESTER — The Philadelphia Union might not have been terribly happy heading into halftime Tuesday night at PPL Park. But given the range of regrets the team has had to stomach this season, the lament of the day was the lesser of many evils.

What was bugging the Union at halftime of what became a 2-0 win over the New England Revolution in the quarterfinals of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is that they had just one goal to show for 45 minutes of controlling the game.

For a team that not long ago endured a stretch of five games without a Union player scoring from open play, leading just 1-0 — courtesy of Conor Casey’s ninth-minute tally — registers as a relatively minor complaint. But it’s nonetheless indicative of the way the Union’s attacking chemistry has progressed in recent weeks.

The Union have scored in each of their last seven MLS games, five of them away from home. Sprinkle in three U.S. Open Cup triumphs in that period, and the Union have found the back of the net 23 times in 10 matches (including 16 in those seven MLS contests). For an offense that sputtered out of the games, beginning the year by tallying 10 times in 11 matches, that’s a quantum step forward.

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The reason for the growth is multifaceted, but it’s at least partially due to the attacking pieces in the Union’s lineup growing in confidence and comfort by the game.

“I think it’s consistent, and by that I mean the lineup,” said winger Danny Cruz, who in 12 matches this season (two goals, one assist) has nearly equaled his total from 32 games in 2013 (three and two). “We’re continuing to play with each other and learn. I know I’m still learning. The communication is pretty important, and there’s been a lot of it. We’re continuing to grow together, continuing to create a lot of opportunities.

“I think in the first half, all of us at halftime were upset not to come in (up) 2-0. For us, we’re not taking it lightly. We’re not saying it’s good enough. We want to continue to get better.”

The Union’s attacking play in the first half was miles ahead of what a sleepwalking Revolution defense could cope with. Casey pried them open in the ninth minute, the Revs defenders opting to lift their arms in appeal for an offside instead of marking Casey as he turned a hopeful delivery by Sheanon Williams from a free kick 20 yards inside the Union’s half into a goal.

There were numerous other opportunities in the first half, with Casey looking dangerous, Williams heading off the crossbar and the seamless interchanging of Cruz, Sebastien Le Toux and Cristian Maidana posing a constant threat to an unsteady Brad Knighton’s goal.

The key piece in the equation might be Maidana, who stumbled upon his current role largely by accident when Vincent Nogueira went down with a groin injury.

It had taken some time for the Argentine designated player to settle in playing as the left winger in a 4-3-3 under John Hackworth. But as the central prong in the midfield triumvirate of Jim Curtin’s 4-2-3-1 formation, Maidana has thrived, given the liberty to freewheel through midfield and pull the strings in the Union’s attack.

“We kind of threw him in there a little more during practice, and he’s kind of taken it and run with that,” Curtin said of Maidana, who has two goals and seven assists this season. “You start to think about getting a Nogueira back, and it’s exciting. … You add him to the things Maidana is doing right now and you have a handful in midfield.”

“What he does a really good job of is giving us support when we have the ball,” Cruz said of Maidana’s impact. “My pace is what I try to use, and I know when I get the ball, he’s going to be within five or seven yards of me. And that’s important for me, because I know that I give it to him — you saw tonight — I play a ball, he plays me through. I had a bad cross, but those are the moments that we continue to learn from each other. It may have happened by accident, but right now it’s working.”

The ability of the Union’s offense to get humming away from home in MLS has raised the standard at home on nights like Tuesday. With two home games looming in the next week, there’s hope that the level continues to rise.